


in the sound of your hello's

by indigo_penstrokes



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Healing, Panic Attacks, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27092278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_penstrokes/pseuds/indigo_penstrokes
Summary: sam and aelwyn's story is shown best through late nights, phonecalls, and all the times between.
Relationships: Aelwen Abernant/Sam Nightingale
Comments: 24
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i finished all of fantasy high, fell in love with aelwyn abernant, and naturally i found the best sapphic rare pair and wrote for it. hope you enjoy  
> title is from a line in Oh, Calamity! by All Time Low

It’s not easy being Aelwyn Abernant, but she’s trying. It’s not easy to find out who she is behind the walls she had built up over the years, over her lifetime if she’s being honest. That’s another thing she’s working on, being honest to herself, to others, in a way that isn’t cold and cutting. It’s not easy to undo nearly two decades of hurt and harm and needless cruelty, but she is getting better at it. It’s not easy to rebuild the ruined remains of her mind, her personality, her very being, into something that’s worthy of being loved despite its flaws. It’s not easy, but she’s trying.

After the Forest of the Nightmare King, Aelwyn has a lot to figure out. So she makes a list, and after a few days it looks like this:

  * Be a better sister to Adaine
  * Learn to be a person others want around
  * Figure out how to graduate highschool (college applications?) 
  * Therapy
  * Make friends



The last one she had scratched out, rewrote, erased again, and rewrote _again_ before finally deciding to let it stay. 

It’s summer now, almost two months since then, and she’s managed to check off three of the five original list items. Graduation was solved by Hudol allowing her to take summer classes since she only has a few credits left, it’s unconventional sure, but it’s better than having to take the year she missed with students who would know who she is and what she had done. Then once she has her diploma she’ll take a gap year and stay with Adaine in Mordred Manor. She’s still going to apply to schools, but she won’t be able to attend that coming fall. It’s nice having everything planned out for herself by herself, she can do whatever she wants to.

Over that same time her relationship with Adaine begins to heal. They help one another through the bad nights, whether Adaine wakes up drowning or Aelwyn can’t trance because it feels like she’s back in that tower and can’t shut her eyes without fear. But they’re also together for all the good parts too, Aelwyn finds out her sister’s favorite flavor of ice cream and what music she likes to have on when she’s studying for different subjects. And in turn Adaine finds out that Aelwyn doesn’t actually like parties and her favorite fruit is oranges. It’s all the little things that knit them back together. Adaine making sure Aelwyn comes on a group picnic with the Bad Kids and the Seven Maidens, or to the movies with just the Mordred Manor crew, or just the two of them going to the library for spell books and then messing around in the back yard with Zayn as they try to create new spells.

It’s nice to feel included even if the small, though growing smaller, voice in her head says she hasn’t done anything to earn any of it. That she is still the villainous bitch that worked for Kalina and Kalvaxus, that sunk an entire ship and killed so many people just because she was afraid, that put girls in crystals so they could be sacrificed. That she’s still such a fundamentally bad person it won’t matter how she acts now, she will eventually just fall back into that cold, uncomfortable familiarity. Therapy helps, Dr Illia is truly a goddess among men and helped her to go through her issues and trauma. And there’s still a lot to work through, but it’s easier now to recognize that yes, she has done those things and that was wrong, but the fact that she wants to be better than who she had been means she isn’t a bad person deep down. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s a place to start and she can only hope that one day she’ll be half as good as Adaine is.

All this time she’s included in group activities inevitably means that she’s also spending time with the Maidens, and it’s tense. The Maidens never invited her to their parties with the Bad Kids just after spring break, and even now they’re always on high alert when they come around the manor for game night, they’ve made it abundantly clear that they don’t like her without saying a word. Aelwyn can’t fault them for it, she wouldn’t like her either in this situation, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to be better when they’re over. She sticks close to Adaine, but when her little sister pulls her into a conversation about spellcasting with Sam, or the uses of wards with Danielle, it’s surprisingly easy to talk about her area of study and not feel like a terrible person. It takes another month of these small, barely there moments, for the Maidens to lose their frigidity. They offer a tentative olive branch in the form of a girls day out, the invitation addressed to all the girls of Mordred Manor, and for once Aelwyn knows she’s included in that.

And just like that the list of people who tolerate her presence, because they certainly aren’t her friends (the Bad Kids made that clear from the start), grows by seven. It’s not easy, but it’s nice.

In the end it’s Sam that becomes her friend first. Aelwyn had known about Sam through Penelope, but that was always slip ups and drunken ramblings, and they all paled in comparison to the real thing. 

Sam Nightingale it seems has a taste for bitchy best friends, but that’s alright because she always cuts right back whenever Aelwyn says something scathing. It never hurts, their barbs are never set to kill, and they’re often directed at other people. She’s sharp as a tack, and a frighteningly competent spellcaster to boot, and Aelwyn has always admired people who can match her skill for skill. Sam is also tough as nails, which makes sense if she was friends with someone as ruthless as Penelope, but there’s also a softness that comes from having to weather a friendship like that. It’s the choice to be kind when the world hasn’t been kind to you. 

But that’s not how it starts. 

Instead it begins with Aelwyn posted up on one of the balconies over looking the backyard of Mordred Manor while the Maidens and the Bad Kids have one of their ragers, a cheap bottle of sparkling wine to keep her company. She doesn’t drink to get drunk anymore, it’s more like she wants to enjoy the way the bubbles fizz and the way it makes her feel a little less alone as she watches the revelry two stories below her. She can feel a spiral starting to dig its claws into her when Sam appears next to her, legs dangling over the edge beside Aelwyn’s. Their knees are so close to touching that Aelwyn thinks maybe she can feel the warmth from it.

“Hello,” She says softly, hair floating around her face as if she’s beneath the waves of an ocean. “It’s getting awfully rowdy down there.”

“It always does,” Aelwyn says after a stunned beat of silence. Belatedly she hands over the still mostly full bottle, she isn’t sure if that was the right choice, but Sam takes it and everything still feels okay. “None of them hold their liquor well,” She adds as an afterthought.

The snort of laughter that Sam lets out startles Aelwyn, she hadn’t meant to be funny. Sam’s entire demeanor changes after that, like she was walking on egg shells only to find they were stronger than steel. “You’re so right, and they all get so sloppy.” Sam pulls a face that looks something like drunken disgust, it crinkles her nose and purses her lips.

A small grin pulls at Aelwyn’s mouth, “And you’re any better?” 

That earns her another laugh out of Sam, though it almost causes her to inhale the wine she had just drank. “I am much better, because I know when to quit, thank you very much.” She points at Aelwyn, botte still in hand and dangerously close to falling off the balcony’s edge.

Aelwyn takes it back, drinks some more in hopes of swallowing down the feeling building in her throat. It doesn’t help, but the feeling isn’t necessarily a bad one, especially when Sam is sitting beside her, grinning down on the chaos below them. She doesn’t say anything more, just watches Sam watching the party. And it’s nice in a way she hasn’t felt in a very long time. 

“They said I shouldn’t come find you, the other maidens, but I think I’m glad I did.” Sam says it so softly that Aelwyn nearly misses it. 

“I’m glad you did too.” The quiet that settles between them is saturated with emotions Aelwyn doesn’t quite know what to do with so she deflects, she always deflects, but this time it doesn’t feel like throwing up a wall. “Watch this.”

Sam turns to her, a puzzled look on her face, but it quickly melts into a mischievous grin that matches Aelwyn’s. “I’m watching.”

The half full bottle of cheap wine floats out over the yard, before coming to a stop above the largest group of people. Aelwyn thinks it’s half the Bad Kids, Fabian, Kristen, Riz, and Tracker, and a two of the Maidens, Penny and Danielle, but she looks to Sam for permission and when she gets a wider grin and a nod in return the bottle is upended by an invisible hand, pouring it’s bubbly contents over the unsuspecting teens. The shouts that rise up from the party are almost as loud as the cackling laughter echoing out from the second story balcony. 

Mage Hand is truly a wonderful spell. 

Once their laughter dies down, and Sam sits up from where she was leaning against Aelwyn, the two look at each other and promptly start laughing again. 

“That was so good, I wish we could have seen their faces,” Sam wheezes out, still giggling. Her face is flushed a dark blue from joy and alcohol and Aelwyn doesn’t want to look away.

She can’t remember the last time she laughed this hard, her entire body hurts from the force of it. “I’m sure at least one of them was streaming it, we can probably find it and watch it again.”

“Well I fully expect you to find it and send it to me, because I am much too drunk for social media detective work right now,” Sam says sternly, but the way her face is still bright from laughter makes it a little less serious. 

Something inside Aelwyn sobers almost immediately. “I don’t think I have your crystal info–”

But right as the words leave her mouth Sam is rattling off a series of numbers that by some miraculous wisdom check Aelwyn remembers and gets put into her crystal only a moment later. She sends a message just to make sure she got the number right, and Sam’s crystal makes a soft _ping_ , so she puts her own back away. “I’ll be sure to send you the video once I find it.”

“Good.” Sam bumps their shoulders together. “I think I like you, Aelwyn Abernant.” 

Aelwyn bites down on her smile, but some of it shows through anyway. “I think I like you too, Sam Nightingale.”

So that’s how it starts, and here’s how it continues: 

Aelwyn finds the video later the next day (Fabian was the one streaming that night). It’s a little blurry and you can barely tell what any of them are saying, but it focuses on the floating wine bottle for a few seconds before it dumps over the group. Sam was right, the looks on all their faces are absolutely priceless. The tail end of the segment does a slow, pixelated zoom over to the balcony and you can just make out the shapes that are Sam and Aelwyn laughing their asses off. Sam responds to the text with a block of exclamation points and then the words ‘call me’ and Aelwyn feels her heart do an impressive set of acrobatics. 

She makes sure Adaine is not in the room before hitting the daunting looking call button. The phone rings twice before Sam picks up.

“Hello.” Sam says it like she doesn’t know who’s calling, but Aelwyn can hear the infectious grin in her voice.

“Hello yourself.” Aelwyn settles further into the tower’s bay window, the throw pillows were a brilliant idea she’ll give that much to Adaine. “So their faces, huh?”

Sam’s laughter is bright as a summer day. “Fucking priceless. I don’t think I’ve seen Penny that pissed since Kalvaxus, and Danielle looked so confused. I swear that girl spends too much time doing druidy things.” 

“I think we’re just lucky none of them wanted to kick our asses,” Aelwyn says mock seriously, “I think if my sister were in that group I would be a dead woman.”

Sam snorts, “Maybe, but what kind of oracle would she be if she didn’t see that coming?” 

“I’ve asked about that, but apparently it doesn’t work that way. I think she just gets to see big important things and gives out weirdly accurate prophecies, but honestly what’s the point of being a diviner if you can’t see the dumb shit coming?” She holds her breath, waiting for Sam to tell her she’s being rude, but that’s not what happens.

“ _Exactly,"_ Sam says like it the most obvious thing in the world.

Aelwyn lets out the breath. It’s easy talking to Sam in a way it isn’t with Adaine or any one else who tolerates her being around. Talking to Sam is almost like a reminder that while she’s done some seriously bad shit she’s still just a teenager who can talk some shit about her little sister. The line goes quiet for a bit before Sam speaks again.

“I was thinking about going to the mall later, and grabbing lunch, would you wanna come?” The last bit sounds rushed, like Sam is forcing herself to get the words out. Or maybe she’s just nervous, though why she would be nervous is beyond what Aelwyn’s insight could ever know.

Aelwyn feels her breath catch in her chest and stick there. “I would love too.” 

“Cool, meet you there in fifteen?”

“Sounds perfect.” And it really, really does.

She can hear Sam smiling again, “Bye, see you soon.” 

“See you soon.” 

The call ends, dial tone ringing in her ears. It feels like she’s trapped in her body. In no world do things like that happen to her, she doesn’t have friends because she’s a bad person who’s been masquerading around as a good one. People don’t just want to spend time with her. She isn’t worth it, she’s never been and never will be. She hasn’t done anything to earn this. It’s hard to breathe she realizes, and the sensation of a band around her chest becomes more tangible. Why can’t she breathe?

 _Panic attack,_ she thinks numbly. _I’m having a panic attack because someone other than my sister was nice to me._

She’s not sure how long it lasts, but she’s sure once Boggy comes bounding into the room that it’s been more than five of her fifteen minutes. Adaine stands at her side, rubbing soothing circles into her back as she tries to breathe through it. But it feels like she’s going to tear something if she keeps trying so she just focuses on Adaine, on Boggy now clutched to her chest, on the pillows propped beneath her.

Slowly, oh so painfully slowly, she starts breathing again like a regular person. Adaine is still there, because Adaine is the best and knows what this feels like. That notion grips her chest again. She was always so awful to Adaine when these happened to her, she never made sure her sister was alright when she felt like she was dying. She doesn’t deserve her sister’s kindness.

“Hey,” Adaine says quietly, “Aelwyn, you’re going to spiral again.”

“No,” She grits out. “I won’t let it.” And she doesn’t, she beats the black thoughts back into their designated For Therapy box. Carefully she stands, knowing she looks a mess still makes her skin crawl, but it’s only Adaine here and Adaine’s seen everything. Good and bad.

“Good. Do you want to talk about it?” Adaine asks when she's handed Boggy back.

Aelwyn laughs, a near hysteric thing. “I believe I just had a panic attack because Sam Nightingale wants to be my friend, and I am now going to be late meeting her at the mall.” 

Adaine just nods, she knows Aelwyn well enough to know she doesn’t want to talk about it. “If you get ready quickly, I’m sure you can just teleport over there. I highly doubt you’ll need the spell slots.”

And it’s the right thing to say because Adaine always knows what to say and when to say it. 

“Thank you. I know I don’t say it enough,” She says as she rummages through the closet for a pair of shorts and a shirt nicer than the one she sleeps in.

Adaine just rolls her eyes. “Yes yes, now just get ready for your date and leave already.”

Aelwyn actually squawks, a sound fit to be heard from Ayda, and whirls on her sister. “It isn’t a _date_ , besides I have higher standards for a first date than just the mall. I like to be wooed, thank you very much.” 

Her sister just waves a hand, “Sure sure. It’s not like you would ever just make out with someone at a party without being _wooed_ first. I’m sure Fabian was just an outlier.”

“Firstly, that was different and I am a new person now, and secondly, you know exactly why I was like that and that I don’t do that now,” She lists as she shrugs on a pale peach and white striped button up, the stripes match the lace in her shorts and that’s about as good as she can do on such little notice.

“Whatever, go have fun with Sam.” Then softer. “You deserve it.”

“Thanks, I love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

And with a snap of her fingers Aelwyn arrives at the entrance to Elm Valley mall with not a second to spare. Sam is already there waiting, a hand dipped lazily into the koi pond beside her bench. She’s got her hair up, but it still looks like it’s lazily trying to defy gravity. Her outfit is perfectly put together for a summer day, pale yellow pleated skirt and plain white tee shirt with a pair of black hightops.

Sam looks up, sees Aelwyn, and a grin wider than what should be comfortable takes over her face. “You made it!”

Aelwyn’s answering grin is smaller, but no less bright. It’s easy to smile around Sam. “I did.”

“Let’s go, I need food and to shit talk random people.” Sam shakes the water off her hand before linking an arm through Aelwyn’s. And Aelwyn must freeze because Sam looks immediately concerned. “Is this okay? I don’t want to overstep any boundaries–”

Aelwyn waves the hand not linked with Sam, and tries for blase. “It’s fine.” Sam though doesn’t look convinced, so she tries again for something more earnest. “I just haven’t had anyone, haven’t had a _friend_ in so long, I think I forgot how it works.”

For her part Sam doesn’t pity her, just nods and says, “Well, I’ll be happy to teach you. Though my last best friend wasn’t really the best.” She chuckles awkwardly, but it doesn’t feel awkward. 

“I’m not the best either, but I think I can do better than her.”

Sam smiles, “I believe that, now let’s get started on this whole friend thing and get some food. I was thinking sandwiches.”

“That’s perfect.” And it really is. 

They spend the rest of their time at the mall wandering between stores, trying on clothes they want to buy and ones they think are absolutely ridiculous. They sit in the food court to eat and critique people’s outfits and complain about getting too much ice in their drinks. Sam drags Aelwyn into stores she wouldn’t have been caught dead in which is a surprise because Sam dresses so unlike the merch in the stores, but it’s so she can buy Zelda a birthday gift, she says when Aelwyn comments on it. In turn Aelwyn pulls Sam with her to look at the wizardry books which leads to a couple stores long conversation on the merits of wizards versus sorcerers and which is sexier as a class. In the end its a draw, but they both have a couple bags each of things they bought, and it’s nice. It’s really really nice to feel like just a couple of regular teens causing trouble at the mall when Sam dares her to mage hand a dream crystal from a kiosk and they have to run away hand in hand through the front double doors. It’s nice how easy it feels to breathe and exist around Sam as they make their way back to Sam’s car in the parking lot chatting about useless things and looking out for the mall security. It’s easy to imagine a life where she has things like this with Sam as they drive back to Mordred Manor. She finds it’s easier to be Aelwyn Abernant, girl doing her best to be better, around Sam, and hopes it will last longer than just the summer as Sam drives off back towards town.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a few phone calls and a closer look at who aelwyn is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so fun fact, i wrote this entire chapter forgetting that tracker goes off to fallinel for the summer and now i'm too lazy to change it, so make of that what you will

The night sky above Mordred Manor is always full of stars. So many in fact that Aelwyn can pass hours connecting them into shapes and runes and sigils, sometimes until the dawn starts to paint the horizon in pink and grey. Tonight she’s sitting on the balcony that overlooks the graveyard, the stone of the manor warm against her back from a day spent soaking up the sun, and just stares up, up, up at the endless expanse of sky.

She turns her crystal over and over in her hands, trying to dispel the shake that seems to have settled deep within them. Nights like these are always the hardest. Her mind doesn’t remember the months of torture, but her body does. In everyway but mentatlly it feels like she’s back in Calethriel Tower except she can’t even remember what that was like, not really. Trauma is funny like that, always appearing where you least expect it. 

She should be trying harder, she has class in the morning and the drive there is long and tedious, but here she is, sitting on a balcony under the stars like some angsty teen movie protagonist. Maybe it would be easier if she had someone to talk to, but Adaine’s having a good night and she can take that from her sister. She will never take anything good from Adaine ever again. 

Her crystal lets out a soft chime that nearly startles her off the ledge. 

It’s a text from Sam that reads,  _ ‘u awake?’ _

Aelwyn checks the time, it’s eleven past eleven, not too terribly late, and shoots back a short, ‘yes’

Sam’s response is almost instant,  _ ‘can we call?’ _

Aelwyn has the crystal dialing and up to her ear before she can think otherwise. 

It doesn’t even ring all the way through once before Sam is breathing her soft “hello” into the line. She sounds panicked and relieved all in a single word, but she keeps talking and it’s all relief from there. “Sorry for doing this so late, I just– I just needed someone to talk to who wasn’t  _ there _ for everything.” 

“I’m not sure why I’m your first choice, I–” Aelwyn trails off quietly, her mind trying to find the right combination of words that won’t harm just because they can. “I  _ was _ there, Sam.” 

She can hear the rustle of blankets and the soft sound of footsteps after the click of a door closing as Sam moves around on the other side of the line. “Not for me. You weren’t there when Penelope… You weren’t there, and I just need someone to talk so I can stop thinking about being stuck in a crystal. So just, talk.” The words are harsh but her tone isn’t, her tone is never harsh on these calls. “Please.”

“Alright. Well I’m looking up at the stars, did you know you can see almost all of them from Mordred Manor?” Aelwyn tips her head back until all she can see are the stars above her. “I don’t think I ever saw this many from home when I was little, though I didn’t really do a lot of looking up then, but now that I can I don’t want to look back down.” 

Sam hums, and it’s easy to imagine what she’s doing. Blanket wrapped around her shoulders, feet dipped into the warm water of pool the Nightingale’s have in their backyard. Teal light dappling around her as she lays on the warm concrete. Maybe she’s looking up at the same sky, the same stars, as Aelwyn, or maybe she has her eyes closed, just listening to whatever topic Aelwyn can fill the hours with. 

“They’re so beautiful, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go up and sit between them. Up so high in the sky that you’re inconsequential among these glowing lights that feel so close yet are too far away to ever hold.” She keeps talking about the stars, until it slowly turns into her rambling on about the magic she’s been working on in her classes, and before she knows it a yawn is interrupting her every other word and Sam has gone so quiet that she must have fallen asleep. 

Aelwyn’s words trail off and she just listens to the barely audible breathing coming from the other side of town. Her throat feels sore from all the talking, but it’s worth it to help Sam. Sam, who just two weeks ago she never would have considered anything close to a friend, but now is the only one she has that isn’t Adaine. Sam, who makes her feel young and just a little more carefree and  _ normal. _ Sam, who makes her feel like maybe she’s worth it, worthy of things other than distrust and anger and coldness. Sam, who’s been through betrayals no one ever should, but still made time for Aelwyn and gave her a second chance when so few would. Just Sam, Sam,  _ Sam. _

Sam’s voice startles her from the nebulous collection thoughts she’s found herself in. “Thank you,” she whispers, soft as a seabreeze. 

“Always,” Aelwyn whispers back, and she means it with her entire heart. This is where these calls usually end, with quiet wishes goodnight. “Goodnight Sam.”

“Goodnight Aelwyn.” Sam stays on a moment longer, like there’s something else she wants to say, but the line disconnects and Aelwyn is alone in the night again. 

She stays there for a few moments more, drinking in the lateness of the night and the depth of the dark that lays beyond. She thinks about Cassandra, and that feeling of not being alone in the dark, before climbing back through the window to head back to the tower. 

Adaine doesn’t stir as she climbs into bed, which is good because it’s well passed one in the morning. Aelwyn falls into her trance the moment her head hits the pillow.

* * *

This time movie night is celebratory. Aelwyn’s finished her midterm examinations, and passed with flying colors. So while she has a strong belief that Adaine is the one who managed to convince the other three residents of Mordred Manor to join them for cake and movies, it’s nice to have a little more company in her celebration.

They’ve taken over the living room, pillows and blankets spread across every available surface. It’s reminiscent of Tracker’s moonhaven with the makeshift fortress she and Kristen have made of one of the armchairs. Aelwyn has a suspicion that some funny business is going to happen in there before the night is done, but she’s decidedly not thinking about it from her place on the couch. Adaine’s on the other end, feet tucked up to her chest as she talks to Ayda, who has one of the fire proof blankets draped around her wings. She thinks Fig is finding more snacks, but she can’t be sure. Aelwyn’s got a mug of Jawbone’s hot chocolate in her hands and the fuzziest pair of socks she owns on her feet, so she can’t really care about much. It’s a little warm considering the summer heat, but it’s the thought that counts and with all the chaos that’s bound to erupt before the first movie finishes she thinks she’ll be alright. Speaking of, the set list of movies for tonight is one movie from each of the Bad Kids present, starting with Adaine and finishing with Kristen (because Kristen has shit taste in movies according to Adaine). It’s an eclectic combination for sure, but that’s very much the normal as Aelwyn is discovering.

The lights click off, revealing more than a few strings of arcane lights strung about the ceiling and walls. They casts everything into a warm glow as the movie starts and everyone quiets down. The movie is one of those black and white mysteries that Riz definitely introduced Adaine to, but it’s not bad. The jokes are funny and the mystery itself is intriguing enough. It’s a good way to start off the night. 

It’s when the end credits begin to roll that her crystal vibrates in her pocket. It’s a text from Sam, and she feels herself begin to grin. 

_ ‘so how’d u do on ur exams??’ _

Aelwyn stands from the couch with her empty mug, looks around at the girls all trying to talk over each other and texts back. ‘good, i can chat for a bit if you want to call’

Her crystal begins to ring the moment she steps into the seclusion of the kitchen. With one hand she accepts the call and puts it on speaker so she can make more hot chocolate for herself before the next film starts. “Hey Sam.”

“Hey yourself, smart girl,” Sam chirps, and Aelwyn thinks she can hear chatter from the Maidens going on in the background. “So, tell me how these exams went, I’m sure you aced all of them.”

Aelwyn can’t help but laugh as she spoons some chocolate into a measuring cup. “I did well considering everything that’s happened, and your help on that sorcery elective was an actual lifesaver. My professor even made the comment that my essay touched on things he’d never seen from his wizardry students before.” 

“I told you you’d kill it. How was Abjuration IV?” 

“Fucking destroyed it, I swear it’s like they don’t expect any of us to be good at the actual casting of these spells.” She mixes the powdered chocolate into her mug of milk before putting it all into the microwave. “Like seriously, it’s not as difficult as they make it out to be.”

“You’re also just brilliant, kind of a bitch, but brilliant.” The smirk is so audible in Sam’s voice that Aelwyn can picture it perfectly, lopsided and joyful.

She gasps dramatically even though she knows Sam can’t see her. “You wound me, Miss Nightingale. I was going to return the compliment but then you went and insulted my personality.”

Sam’s cackling laughter is a little tinny over the crystal speakers, but it’s still like falling under a warm ocean wave and Aelwyn is helpless to its riptide. The silence that follows lasts all of three seconds before Sam is diving into another topic. “So what’re you up to, other that being graced by my beautiful company?”

“The Manor is having movie night to celebrate the passage of my last highschool midterms, but I snuck away to call you and make more hot chocolate. What about you? I thought I heard some of the Maidens earlier.” Alewyn leans up against the counter, eyes drooping closed as she waits for the timer to go off.

“Aww, you snuck away to talk to me, that’s so sweet of you,” Sam coos before giggling at her own ridiculousness. 

Aelwyn just rolls her eyes as she adds the last of the chocolate into the drink once it comes out of the microwave. “Yeah yeah, I know you would have eventually pestered me into calling you, so I figured now was better than later because you’re an actual menace.” 

“It’s what best friends are for.” And Sam keeps talking like that simple sentence didn’t send Aelwyn’s heart into a never before seen set of acrobatics. “But yeah, it’s also movie night over here. We just finished the  _ sappiest _ pirate movie I have ever seen, like I’ve seen my fair share of romance movies but I think this one might take the cake...” 

Aelwyn just makes the proper affirmative noises as Sam goes on about the movie. She’s still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Sam called them best friends. It shouldn’t come as a shock, they’ve been spending almost every moment of free time they have together, but still it does, and Aelwyn has no idea what to do with that information. She’s spared any further turmoil when a loud crash sounds from her crystal and Sam swears colorfully.

“Sounds like you need to go?” Aelwyn suggests, trying not to laugh. 

“Yeah, sorry. Danielle wild shaped into an auroch for some reason and almost broke the couch.” There more muffled sounds of chaos and more swearing from the others. “Promise I’ll call you later, bye.” 

Sam sounds distracted already, so Aelwyn doesn’t drag their call out any longer. “Talk to you then, bye.” 

The disconnect tone is still louder than it should be in the quiet kitchen. 

Wait. 

It shouldn’t be  _ quiet. _ The assembled Bad Kids are never quiet unless they’re up to something. 

Maybe it’s the fact she’s learning how to be an older sister that makes her snoop about the door way, rolling a stealth check and everything, but when she finds no one lurking there it would be an understatement to call her surprised. She even does a quick mage hand to swipe at anyone, who might have been invisible, but still there’s nothing. Now she feels more on edge because she just knows they’re up to something, and she had a lapse in judgement when she put the call on speaker. But even when she takes her spot back on the couch everyone is right where she left them; Kristen in Tracker’s lap, Fig and Ayda in a similar position, only Adaine is up but she’s putting another movie in. It’s suspiciously unsuspicious. 

“So,” She hedges, “what’s next in the queue?”

“Tracker chose  _ Bumblebee _ , I think it’s about a warforged who loses her memory and has to save the planet,” Adaine says in what can only be called a rush. 

Aelwyn raises a single eyebrow. “Is that so, and why are you just now putting it in?”

It’s amusing to watch Adaine fail her bluff roll and splutter out a nonsensical answer, especially when that proves she was right about the girls spying on her. The failed bluff lasts a solid minute and a half before someone else cuts in.

“Okay okay, I’m just gonna say it.” Kristen sits up further, heedless of Tracker trying to stop her or the look of pure  _ murder _ Adaine turns on her. “We’re all thinking it, but Sam is definitely an improvement over Fabian.”

So much happens at once Aelwyn can’t really keep track of it all. She thinks Adaine throws a pillow at Kristen at the same time Tracker pulls her girlfriend back under a blanket. Fig just cackles brilliantly and whispers conspiratorially to Ayda who also laughs. And then there’s the fact that they, what, they think she’s involved with Sam? But that can’t be it, even if they heard the call there’s no way  _ that’s _ the conclusion they would come to. It doesn't make sense, does it?

“But I’m not gay?” Is the first brilliantly stupid thing that comes out of her mouth when the choas dies down a bit. There’s something sitting in her chest and she doesn’t like it, it twists and twinges like a muscle that’s been still for too long. “I’m not gay, am I?” 

“Well that’s something only you can really know, but–” Tracker elbows Kristen again. “ _ But _ , I think we could probably help you figure it out. Y’know, ask some questions and talk through it.” 

Aelwyn just nods, gaze unfocused on her mug of hot chocolate that she feels a bit too nauseous to drink. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know.” It had never been an option before, she was always supposed to be the perfect eldest daughter. She wasn’t allowed the luxury of questioning if she really liked the boys she kissed.

“Okay, well let’s start out simple. Have you ever kissed a girl?” Tracker asks. “Or thought about it ever?” 

Aelwyn answers with the first truth that comes to mind. “No, not sober at least. And I don’t think I ever really let myself think about it being an option I could have.” But now it seems it’s  _ all  _ she can think about. All the ways it would be different from the guys she’s kissed, softer probably, less dominating unless she took the lead. It would probably smell nicer too, none of that sinus burning cologne teenage boys seem to think makes them hotter, no it would probably be something fresh or floral, something nice. It’s not a bad collection of thoughts by any stretch of the word, it’s actually kind of pleasant the longer she thinks about it.

The group nods, and falls quiet for a bit. She gets the feeling a message cantrip is being used, but honestly if they’re talking about her she doesn’t really want to hear it. She’s got bigger issues on her plate, like the fact that she might actually be gay and just so repressed that she couldn’t think about it before now. But now that the door’s open there’s now way it’s going to close on its own. Is it really possible she’s been gay this whole time, and just ignored it? It’s certainly possible giving her track record of being closed off. But what if– 

“Next question. How do you feel about the boys you have kissed, like Fabian?” Ayda asks, her unique brand of directness enough to pull Aelwyn from her spiraling thoughts.

But still she shrugs. “I mean, they were good for what they were. A distraction from who I was. I never really put much thought into who asked or who I said yes to, they were all just sort of a body that I was supposed to like. I never really  _ hated _ it, but I don’t think I liked it very much either. And I think Fabian, at least after spring break, was just me trying to hold onto something that felt even a little bit normal after everything that happened.” She can feel things fall further in place. All those parties were to build up a version of herself that was so much larger than she really was, the drinking, the drugs, the kissing. It was never really her. She kissed Fabian because he was there and she had a reputation, that was it. “Does that help?”

“Yes, I believe so. You enjoyed the act of kissing but not the partner engaged in the act. Correct?”

“Yeah I guess,” she says, still thinking about kissing someone softer. Someone with longer hair she can twist her fingers in without having to pull. Someone who smells like summer after it rains. Someone who is decidedly unlike Fabian or any of the other faceless boys she’s been with through the years. Someone who can match her wit and sharp sense of humor, someone like– no. Not going there, keep it vague Aelwyn, just lips and hair and hands and anything but specifics.

She must be staring off into space because she’s jolted back to reality when Kristen stage whispers to Tracker, “I know that face, it’s the ‘I’m thinking about kissing girls’ face.” 

Aelwyn can’t even defend herself because Kristen is completely right, and there’s no way for her to build up anything fast enough to deflect from that. So naturally what her short circuting brain gives her to say is, “Oh gods, I am gay aren’t I?” 

And it’s like a line of dominoes falling one over the other of small things that in this new light make so much sense that it feels ridiculous that she didn’t put it together sooner. It’s world shattering and frightening, but most of all it feels like coming home. She’s not alone in this, not anymore, and she has the time to think and figure out who she is without the imposing figures of her parents lurking just off stage. She finally gets to be who she always should have been.

The room erupts into cheers and Aelwyn can’t keep the smile off her face, it just feels so  _ good. _

“I’m gay!” It’s a weight lifted from her shoulders, a puzzle piece fitting into place where she thought one had already fit. She feels  _ awestruck _ as Adaine wraps her in a hug. It feels like she’s floating a foot above her body before she’s suddenly slammed back into it at twice the force of gravity. “Does this mean I like Sam?”

Before the beginnings of any sort of panic can set it Adaine pulls her attention back into focus. “Maybe, but it can be hard to know the difference between platonic and romantic feelings especially if you’ve always thought one was the other. But you don’t need to know right now, I promise.”

Aelwyn drops her head to Adaine’s shoulder and hugs back even tighter. “When did my baby sister get so wise?” 

“Maybe I always have been, did you think of that?” 

Aelwyn just shakes her head and breathes out a laugh, “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now how about we finish this movie marathon before Kristen gets handsy with Tracker?” Adaine gives her a smile, one of her true ones. It glows under the arcane lights. 

Aelwyn is so glad she has her sister. “Sounds like a plan I can get behind.” 

They make it through two more movies before people start dropping off into sleep. Their makeshift pillow sanctuary is perfect and warm, the tv keeps playing in the background just barely audible over everyone’s evened out breathing. Aelwyn still has a lot to think about with everything that’s happened tonight, and she’ll call Sam in the morning with her new revelation, but here and now she feels content and that’s enough to lull her off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sam is going to be leaving soon, aelwyn doesn't quite know how to handle that, but she's trying her best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title for this chapter: aelwyn that's Gay  
> also i apologize for the unholy amount of dialogue, i'm not quite sure how that happened because i am not a dialogue writer, anyway i hope you enjoy!

It’s been about a month since the middle of summer and the revelations that brought with it. Between her classes Aelwyn’s been slowly spending more time with the Maidens, and they’re slowly pulling her into their orbit. There’s graduation parties for Katja and Sam that she goes to, and there are house parties at Ostentatia’s that she doesn’t because it hurts too much to remember. She’s careful about it, always citing illness or Adaine wanting to spend time together, but the thing is Sam is smart and puts the fragmented pieces together, figures out the pattern, and finds a way to give Aelwyn another way out. Sam never says she knows why Aelwyn can’t stand to be anywhere near the Clearbrook neighborhood, but it’s there in her small smiles and offers to spend the night at hers and watch movies until they’re sick from eating popcorn. Aelwyn knows she knows, but until Sam actually brings it up she won’t either, or at least the was her plan, but summer’s winding down and there’s hardly any time left for the Maidens to be together as a party before they lose two sevenths of who they are as a group and Aelwyn can’t deflect any longer.

So the next time there’s a house party and Ostentatia hosts, Aelwyn declines as she always does and Sam offers her an alternative as she always does, and it’s just too much for Aelwyn. 

They’re sitting beneath one of the large beech trees in Sam’s backyard, Sam has her head in Aelwyn’s lap as she scrolls through her crystal while Aelwyn mindlessly plays with her hair. The group message came and went just a few minutes ago, and Aelwyn is still trying to find the right words to bring up the conflicted feeling she has in her chest. It’s not fair of her to take this time from Sam, who’s leaving for college in just a few weeks and will be gone until winter break. 

“I can hear you thinking,” Sam says carefully, like she can feel whatever it is that’s bothering Aelwyn is something to be treated delicately. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I do, I just don’t know how to, it’s...” She frowns, and settles on, “complicated.” 

Sam doesn’t sit up, but she shifts enough so she can look at Aelwyn’s face, squinting up against the dappled sunlight. “Is this about the party? Because like I said, we can just stay in and watch movies, I’ve had my eye on this new action flick for a bit.” 

“Why do you do that?” Aelwyn blurts before amending, “I mean, why do you care?” But that’s also not what she wants to say. Why is it so frustrating to try and get her thoughts into words.

“Because you’re my best friend?” Sam says like it’s obvious.

“I know that, but you should be spending time with the rest of your party. You’re leaving in three weeks, you should be spending that time with them, not me. I–” She swallows around the emotion that’s appeared in her throat. “I don’t deserve it, any of it. From you or the others.”

Sam sits up so their faces are on the same level before reaching out and carefully taking Aelwyn’s face between her palms. She doesn’t speak slowly, but her words are saturated with a determination that forces Aelwyn to listen. “I spend time with you because I want to, and if that means not going to a few parties then so be it. I like you Aelwyn, I like spending time with you. If I didn’t I wouldn’t do that.” 

Aelwyn nods carefully, understanding slowly sinking in.

“And just between us, I think maybe I don’t deserve them either.” Sam lets her hands fall until they rest over top of Aelwyn’s. They’re nice hands, she thinks, elegant yet strong. They’re hands that can call all the power of storms and still be soft enough to wipe away tears. 

“How could you think that?” She asks quietly, linking her fingers with Sam’s.

Sam lets out a watery sigh. “I was best friends with Penelope, the girl who did so many horrible things to them all, and I didn’t even know it was happening. Not until she got me too.”

“That wasn’t your fault, you genuinely didn’t know…”

“But I should have. I should have seen the way she was targeting all the girls we used to be friends with, I should have put the pieces together, I should have known something was up with Johnny. I should have done so much more than I did.” Sam hiccups slightly as tears begin to drip down her cheeks. She wipes them away almost angrily. “I should have been a better person, but I was so conceited that I think even if I had known I wouldn't have done much about it.”

Aelwyn pulls her into a hug so tight it must hurt, but she doesn’t care. She needs Sam to know that she’s not a bad person, that her mistakes don’t make her any less deserving of the friends she has now. That she’s nothing like Aelwyn. “But you know that now. You have the rest of the Maidens and together you’re making it all better than it was. You all didn’t go out to the Red Waste for nothing.”

Sam nods into her shoulder after a beat. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” 

“I always am,” Aelwyn says, and she means for it to come off faux snooty, but it’s soft and sorta sad. She hasn’t been right about things for a while now, but occasionally she does.

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Sam laughs, pulling out of their embrace just enough to give Aelwyn a Look that is suitably ruined by the way she’s starting to laugh.

“Yeah,” Aelwyn breathes out, a smile pulling at her mouth. “Yeah, I know.” 

Sam lets her head fall back onto Aelwyn’s shoulder and everything feels alright again as they sit there in the summer shade. Aelwyn’s hand runs through Sam’s hair gently, the strands as smooth as water, and she thinks they’re going to be alright.

* * *

Sam leaves in four days. Aelwyn is definitely  _ not _ losing her shit about it. She just has this thing she’s been working on that needs to be ready before Sam goes, and she’s so close but there’s just  _ something _ missing. 

The thing in question is a light wash denim jacket with a soft grey flannel lining that Aelwyn picked up on a thrifting trip with Adaine and Fig almost two weeks ago. And now, after a week and a half of studious trial and error, it has shielding runes embroidered into the cuffs with dark blue thread and a single abjurative sigil chalked onto the back, yet to be made permanent. 

The goal of the sigil is to give the jacket wearer a warding strong enough to deflect a single spell of third or second level, or two of first level, along with any number of cantrips, before needing to be recharged by Aelwyn herself. It also has the added bonus of acting like an additional piece of armor in the case of melee based attacks. Well, it should be able to do all those things if Aelwyn can just get the last few issues worked out. 

“Okay, this should be the last adjustment, hit me with your best shot!” Aelwyn calls out across the yard to Adaine. They’re currently in their tenth phase of testing, which consists of Adaine firing her best offensive spells at Aelwyn as she wears the jacket and holds back her own shielding magic. So far there’s only been a few not-so-minor injuries, but Aelwyn thinks it’s all worth it if she can get the jacket to work in the end. 

Adaine’s eyes flash blue as she hurls another bolt of frozen, crackling energy across the yard. 

Aelwyn plants her feet and braces for impact.  _ This is it, this is the one… _

The spell shatters as it hits the wards. 

“Another!” Aelwyn is beaming. She knows within her heart of hearts that this is it, that she finally got it right, and she would hope as much after consulting not only Adaine, but Ayda and Zayn as well. 

Adaine complies and fires off a burning ray of flames, a smile visible from almost thirty feet away.

Buoyed by her success Aelwyn loosens her stance, and watches as the Fire Bolt too dispels the moment it hits the jacket’s wards. 

“Alright, now let’s try something with a bit more punch. Do you have Lightning Bolt stocked?” She flicks a piece of hair from her face, the perfect image of carefree if you ignore how her hands shake just a bit. 

Adaine doesn’t bother to hide her shock. “Are you sure? I mean that’s what– father  _ killed _ you with that.”

“I know.” She straightens out her spine, and stands her ground against the prospect of panic. “But if this jacket is to be up to my standards it will have to withstand that spell and many ones like it. So just cast the spell, Adaine, I’ll be fine. I know my work is good.”  _ And I trust you. _

Adaine rolls her eyes as she flips through her spellbook. It takes a moment for her to memorize the spell, but after that she’s staring Aelwyn down like she’s steeling herself for something horrible as she raises her hand and casts the spell.

Electricity crackles through the space between them, hot and dangerous and unnaturally blue.

Aelwyn doesn’t flinch as the bolt obliterates itself on her wards, only smiles as the air is filled with the smell of ozone and rain. She stands unharmed and grinning. It worked, and she feels silly for ever considering that it wouldn’t. She’s  _ Aelwyn Abernant _ after all, she’s sunk a ship and created spells far more difficult that a jacket of warding.

“You did it!” Adaine cries, surprise and pride alight in every aspect of her face. 

“Of course I did it, who do you take me for? Some average grade spellcaster?” She’s already shrugging out of the jacket as she walks back across the yard. All that’s left now is to paint and seal the sigil into the jacket, which shouldn’t be more difficult that figuring out the specific runes she needed. 

Adaine pulls a sour looking face. “You could at least act a little bit like it took you more than a week to get it right.” 

Aelwyn laughs, bright and clear, as she slings an arm around Adaine’s shoulders. “You see, dear sister, that while I may not be evil any more, I will never, ever be modest.” 

Adaine scoffs and shakes her head, but doesn’t pull away. “Maybe you should work on that.” 

The sound Aelwyn lets out can only be called a cackle as they walk towards the manor. 

Painting the jacket is more of an ordeal than she had anticipated. The first problem is that the magically-permanent paint she bought seems to get on absolutely everything she doesn’t want it to get on, so she’s got smears of it across her hands and face as well as the wood floor of the living room. Luckily the paint is white and not staining anything in an obnoxious color. The second is that after she finally gets the sigil painted she doesn’t know what else to include around it, because there should be something more to it than just the plain warding, it needs some pizzazz. 

In the end she settles on a collection of constellations scattered about the upper half and some whitecaps to decorate the bottom hem. She’s not an artist by trade, but it looks good enough that she’d proud of it. And she thinks Sam will like it. Gods she hopes Sam likes it.

She leaves the jacket to dry on the back of a chair and decides to go think about literally anything that isn’t Sam leaving or the jacket or how the two correlate with one another.

* * *

Sam leaves the day after next, which means she and Aelwyn are having a sleepover. Complete with a marathon of cliche highschool movies, gossiping, and many, many sugary snacks. It also means that Aelwyn is going to give her the jacket, which shouldn’t be a big deal but it still feels like something huge. 

She rings the bell outside the Nightingale home, the gift bag containing the poorly wrapped jacket clutched in an almost-deathgrip.  _ Breathe Aelwyn, everything is fine and you’re freaking out over nothing. _

Beth Nightingale answers the door, warm and smiling as always. “Hi Aelwyn, come in.” 

“How’re you Ms Nightingale?” She asks, toeing her shoes off onto the small mat by the door. 

“Oh you know how it is, busy packing for school and worrying that we’ve packed too much and not enough. I’ll be happy when it’s done, but for now I don’t want to think about my baby girl leaving me so soon.” Beth keeps up the idle chatter as she leads them both towards the living room. 

The living room itself is decked out for what seems like more than just a sleepover. There’s strings of twinkling arcane lights hanging from the ceiling, and the couch is almost totally covered in blankets and pillows while different snacks are laid out on the coffee table. 

“I’ll leave you two to it then, just try to refrain from summoning anything that’ll break my furniture.” Beth gives her a wink before leaving the room. 

Aelwyn just shakes her head before turning back to Sam, who’s now standing up from where she was bent over the crystal dvd player. “I think your mom has a very different idea of what we’ll be doing tonight than we do.”

Sam laughs, it’s a bright sound, clear as crystal in the sun. “Yeah, she’s probably just thinking about what happened the last time the Maidens were over and a table might have ended up in pieces.” 

“Can’t blame her for that.” Aelwyn bites her cheek, better now that later right? “I made you something, it’s a late graduation present of sorts.” She holds the bag out and makes sure she keeps looking at Sam even though she kinda wants to just stare at the floor until it swallows her entirely. 

“You didn’t need to do that,” Sam says as she unwraps the jacket. She holds it up once all the tissue paper is off, her jaw drops and it looks like she might start crying. “Aelwyn…”

“It’s not a lot, I mean it’s nowhere near as powerful as Adaine’s jacket of useful things, but it’s my take on a jacket of warding,” She hurriedly explains as Sam turns it over in her hands. “The runes on the cuffs give you one free use of shield while the sigil on the back will take the hit from a mid-level spell and any number of cantrips before you have to come back to me for a recharge. It took a little while to get right, but I can say with complete certainty that it works.” 

“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble just for me.” Sam clutches the jacket to her chest like it’s something much more precious than it really is. 

“I wanted to do it, and besides how else am I supposed to keep my best friend safe when she’s off adventuring at college?” Aelwyn offers a cautious smile, she’s never really said it aloud that Sam is her best friend and it’s a little scary.

Sam doesn’t start crying, but her eyes are wet as she crushes Aelwyn in a hug. “Thank you, you’re the best.” 

“Of course,” She says into Sam’s hair, and hold her back just as tightly. 

Eventually they separate, and Sam says, “I’m going to grab something real quick, you can pick out a movie in the mean time.” 

She takes off towards her room and Aelwyn is left with a stack of their most watched cliche movies. Aelwyn is rather fond of  _ Ten Things I Hate About You _ , there’s just something about the dynamic between Kat and Bianca that makes her think of Adaine and herself. But Sam likes the ones that she says ‘shaped our teen culture as we know it’ which Aelwyn thinks is a load of shit, but she does admit they are fun to watch. So she loads  _ Ten Things _ just to see Sam be disappointed in the way she is when Aelwyn chooses it again and again, which is to say not disappointed at all really. And sets the rest in an order to watch later. After tht she makes herself a spot on the couch with more than a few throw pillows to prop her up and a super fluffy blanket around her shoulders as she waits for Sam to come back. 

“Tada!” Sam appears back in the doorway, jacket on overtop of her pajamas. 

It’s quite a look and Aelwyn says as much, though she doesn’t know why Sam would have to leave the room to do it.

“No, look. I added a pin.” Sam bends down so Aelwyn can get a better look at the collar of the jacket, and sure enough a little blue, purple, and pink heart is pinned there. “I’ve been waiting for the right thing to put it on ever since Katja gave it to me, and well, the jacket was too perfect to pass up.” She blushes and Aelwyn is suddenly very aware of just how close they are. She would barely have to move to brush her fingers over Sam’s cheek, feel the heat that’s stained her skin turquoise. 

“I’m glad I could give you that.”  _ Deflect deflect deflect, _ her brain screams. “Now, let’s get started on these movies, I want as much time with my best friend as I can get before I have to drive for hours just to see your stupid face.”  _ Nailed it, _ she cringes.

“Let me guess, you picked  _ Ten Things I Hate About You? _ ” Sam laughs as she takes off the jacket, setting it aside and away from anything that might get spilled on it. Once it’s a suitable distance away she settles into the space beside Aelwyn so they’re pressed together from shoulder to hip and their legs are a tangle under and around the blanket. 

Aelwyn reaches over to grab one of the bowls of kettle corn, Sam will ask for it in about five minutes so it’s better to just get it now, and sets it on their thighs. “You know me so well.” 

“Fuck yeah, I do.” Sam nearly upends the popcorn bowl with her celebratory gesture, but by some miracle it only wobbles without spilling any of its contents onto the floor. 

They make it through the rest of the movie with their regular commentary and half of the next one before Sam begins to doze softly against Aelwyn’s side. Packing for college must be exhausting if Sam is clocking out already and it’s not even after midnight yet. 

“Sam,” She whispers, “Sam?”

Sam just hums in her sleep and shifts so she’s practically laying on top of Aelwyn. This is also how their sleepovers usually go; Sam falling asleep first and using Aelwyn as an elven pillow. But tonight it feels different, charged in a sense. This is possibly the last time Aelwyn will get to have this for a while, even if she visits Sam regularly it won’t be the same. Things are changing, and she just wishes they wouldn’t, just for a little bit.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” She whispers even softer, and because she’s feeling quietly bold, she presses a barely there kiss to the top of Sam’s head. 

The rest of the movie plays out on the TV, but Aelwyn cares more about the girl in her arms than whatever cliche plot is happening on screen. For now she’s content, happy even. For now what she has is more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ad-astra-de-luna and reblog the pinned post for this fic if you enjoyed it!


End file.
